A place to learn about different treatments of autism. A community of knowledge and support.

Main menu

Kyle’s Treehouse, originally a resource about autism, has evolved into a community, where hundreds of thousands of visitors learn from each other every year. So, join in the conversation and welcome to Kyle’s Treehouse.

Post navigation

Raun K. Kaufman, autism expert and author of Autism Breakthrough, will be sharing some innovative, outside-the-box techniques from The Son-Rise Program® as part of his northeast lecture tour, kicking off on April 2 in Hartford, CT.

If you’ve spent time here at Kyle’s Treehouse, then you likely already know the important role The Son-Rise Program played in Kyle’s emergence from autism. The Son-Rise Program, a home-based therapy offered through the Autism Treatment Center of America™, is built around the belief that respect and deep caring are the most important factors impacting a child’s ability to learn.

Raun brings a unique qualification to the realm of autism treatment—his own personal history as a person fully recovered from autism (read more about that here).

As part of his lecture, Raun will share step-by-step, practical strategies you can apply immediately at home with your child and how to join your child in their own unique world before asking them to join us in our world.

Meet Kiley Lyall, the first runner with autism to be on the cover of Women’s Runningmagazine. Kiley was selected as the magazine’s cover girl by readers as part of a contest.

Running since the age 8, Kiley, now 24, has a number of races under her belt and has done it all while dealing with autism, mild cerebral palsy and life-threatening seizures. Kiley’s mom, Kathleen, explains in this article, the sport has improved her daughter’s condition. She said, “With everything she struggles with, she realized that running made her body feel so much better. She started talking more, and she started wanting to run more because it made her feel better.”

Kiley is a great inspiration and being on the cover of this magazine is much more than just a photo. As Kathleen said, “We’re hoping that it will open doors for these other athletes that have limited abilities, and just promote what they can do. Everyone thinks that running is this big elite thing – and it does take motivation and determination – but we want to change perception of these individuals and let people know that they’re very, very capable of achieving their goals.”

Every year at Christmas time, you may be fighting an internal struggle – should we go visit Santa or skip it? Sure, you’d love to have that moment with Santa—your child is excited about Christmas, that’s for sure—and getting a good picture with him would be a bonus. BUT, if that Santa visit is in a mall or another high-traffic location, chances are that it’s a big sensory storm for your child—the lights, the music, the crowds, the waiting—and it may be just too much for them.

The good news is that many places are now offering special times for children with autism to visit Santa in a more sensory-friendly environment. It was an offer like this that allowed Erin Deely and her husband to take their son, Brayden, to see Santa at their local mall in North Carolina. The Deelys thought their chance of having Brayden visit Santa and get that traditional holiday snapshot was not possible after their son was diagnosed at age 3. But thanks to the Caring Santa program, organized by Autism Speaks, Brayden got to hang out with Santa on his own terms. As Erin explained it, “He (Santa) got down on his stomach and just started playing with him. They didn’t even talk to each other, really, they just bonded and played, and Brayden started to be really excited and started looking at him and smiling.”

Thanks to this Santa, Brayden and his family had the holiday experience they had always hoped for. And while the Caring Santa program is in malls in 120 cities, there are similar sensory-friendly Santa events happening in additional locations, so chances are there’s one near you.

This is a note that captures a conversation between a mother and her 7-year-old daughter, Cadence, who has autism. It’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming – and above all else, it’s a good reminder that we, particularly us adults, need to recognize that our words and actions can have a tremendous impact on our children. It was overhearing other adult discussions among parents and listening to the news that led Cadence to believe she was “bad” for having autism. As Cadence’s mom, Angela, shared in her message on “I am Cadence”

What ‘messages’ are children hearing—from ourselves, from other parents, at school, from media and in the general community? And what are the ‘take home’ learnings, spoken or unspoken, they are internalizing from these messages?

Cadence expressed what many children may be feeling, but unable to say, so let her words spread far and wide so we all may be more compassionate and respectful.

According to a new government estimate, about 1 in 45 children in the U.S. has autism. The estimate, which comes from researchers at the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), is based on data collected during a yearly survey, from interviews of parents about their children, and is the first report of the prevalence of autism in the U.S. to include data from years 2011 to 2014.

While this looks like a substantial increase from the CDC’s last estimate, which was 1 in 68 children and just announced over the summer, the previous estimate was determined from a different survey that gathers information from children’s medical records and it was based on data collected during 2010.

The reason for this increase may not necessarily be that there are more children with autism than there have been in previous years—meaning, there’s likely no factors such as environmental conditions, etc. that can be causing the increase. Instead, the rate increases could be attributed to growing awareness of autism and more children being more appropriately diagnosed on the spectrum versus other conditions. The way in which data was collected and the questions that were asked of parents have also been restructured a bit, which may have also impacted the data collected. (read more about that here).

This is a budding chef named Chase Bailey. He’s a 13-year old based in California and host of his own cooking show on YouTube. Chase was diagnosed with autism at 2-years-old and his mom, Mary, was given some tough warnings at that time about Chase’s future – he may never get a job, learn to socialize or lead an independent life. One of the things Chase struggled with early on was eating—like many on the spectrum, the various textures, smells and tastes were overwhelming for him. He stuck with a basic diet of pizza, chicken, french fries, cookies and chips.

That all changed, though, when he started watching cooking shows with his grandfather. He, as explained here, got hooked on watching people enjoy the food they were eating and then asked to start trying some of the food he was seeing on TV. Among his early requests – fried alligator and frog legs.

This discovery of food led to the creation of “Chase ‘N Yur Face” on YouTube, where you can watch Chase cook up all sorts of culinary treats (and get visits from other chefs!)

It’s a great story and good reminder of the importance of finding inspiration and something you connect with – no matter what it may be, and no matter how big or small it is – because it was brings out the best in us.

We wanted to share a little update on one of our favorite featured kids from this past year. Back in May, we talked about Santino Stagliano, who was diagnosed with autism more than five years ago. With his parents’ encouragement, Santino was able to direct his love of drawing and dragons to create beautiful t-shirts that he is selling and donating half of the proceeds to the Center for Autism. Best of all, this process had given Santino a boost of self-esteem and a way to connect with people.

Now, fast-forward only a few months and Santino’s Dragons is expanding, doing amazing things. Santino, who is 10 years old, recently visited William Penn Charter school to share his story, his t-shirts and autism awareness with other kids his age. As his dad explains, Santino wasn’t even able to speak to anyone six months ago. And now, he’s talking in front of large groups of kids and fielding questions from students. For example, while at Penn Charter, he was asked:

How do you make dragons? “It’s what you feel inside, and you just do it,” Santino said.

What special things can you do? “I can climb trees, I can swim fast, and one time I went on this ride that teenagers usually go on, and I wasn’t scared at all.”

Who inspires you? “I get inspired by this person,” he said, pointing to his mom.

Santino also started a program called “Find Your Dragon,” which is designed to help children with autism express themselves and make friends. And if that wasn’t enough, he also chooses one child every month and does something special for them.

What an amazing kid – he is truly an inspiration. I have a feeling this will be one of many updates we’ll be doing about all of the tremendous and impactful work he is doing.

Sesame Street is introducing someone new to the neighborhood, and she’s the show’s first character with autism. Meet Julia, who has joined the cast as part of Sesame Workshop’s new initiative, Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children.

As noted on its site, the initiative looks to offer ways families can overcome common challenges and foster “an affirming narrative around autism for all families and kids.”

In discussing Julia, Sherrie Westin, executive VP of global impacts and philanthropy told People, “we want parents and children to understand that autism isn’t an uncomfortable topic.” She went on to say, “If you’re five years old, and see another kid not making eye contact with you, you may think that child doesn’t want to play with you. But that’s not the case. We want to create greater awareness and empathy.”

Julia is a digital character and will be included in the initiative’s storybooks, videos and free app, all of which explain autism from the perspective of a child with autism.